Abuja: An economist, Ephraim Audu, says the strong growth recorded in the agricultural sector, particularly crop production, reflects the resilience of Nigerian farmers but requires structural reforms to remain sustainable. Audu, who is also the President of Agricultural Agenda Nigeria Initiative (AANI), shared these insights during an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that Nigeria’s real GDP grew by 4.43 per cent year-on-year in Q2 2026, surpassing the 4.23 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2025. The report highlighted that the agriculture sector saw a growth of 4.39 per cent in Q2 2026, a notable increase from the 2.82 per cent in Q2 2025, with crop production contributing 17.66 per cent to the GDP, second only to trade at 17.93 per cent.
Audu emphasized that this performance underscores agriculture’s potential to drive economic growth, create jobs, and strengthen food security despite challenges such as insecurity and farmer-herder conflicts. He attributed the growth to increased cultivation and production, favorable output in some subsectors, higher agricultural prices, and a growing demand for food.
However, Audu cautioned against interpreting the increased agricultural output as a resolution to the sector’s underlying structural issues. He pointed out ongoing constraints such as insecurity, displacement of farming communities, limited access to land, inadequate irrigation, and high input costs, which continue to hinder agricultural productivity.
He also highlighted challenges like poor mechanization, post-harvest losses, inadequate storage facilities, and limited access to affordable credit as obstacles to sustained growth. Audu called on the Federal Government to shift focus from mere agricultural output to productivity and value-chain development.
Audu stressed the importance of securing farming communities, expanding irrigation, mechanization, and extension services, improving access to finance and quality inputs, and enhancing rural roads and storage facilities. He advocated for stronger links between farmers, markets, and agro-processing industries to reduce post-harvest losses and increase value addition.
Reflecting on the 4.43 per cent real GDP growth recorded in Q2 2026, Audu described it as encouraging but cautioned that the quality and composition of growth are more important than the headline figure. He emphasized that sustained growth should translate into higher employment, private investment, productivity, and household incomes.
Audu noted that GDP growth does not automatically lead to improved living standards, especially when rising living costs outpace household incomes. He stressed that Nigeria’s challenge is not merely expanding the economy’s size but ensuring that expansion translates into higher purchasing power and improved welfare.
Looking ahead, Audu expressed a cautiously optimistic outlook for the next six months, suggesting that recent performance indicates economic activity is gaining momentum. He stressed that the outlook would depend on the spread of momentum across productive sectors and its translation into stronger employment, investment, and household demand.
He urged the Federal Government to pursue policies that deepen economic diversification, improve agricultural and manufacturing productivity, strengthen infrastructure and energy supply, and attract long-term private investment. Audu concluded by emphasizing that economic success should be measured by the generation of productive jobs, increased real incomes, reduced poverty, and improved quality of life for Nigerians.